840 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN October 22, 1915. months. A scale was drawn up, and it is being submitted to all in the trade with a view to its being generally adopted. At the Liverpool Consistory Court last week, sanction was given for the erection of stained glass windows in the church of Bickershaw St. James and St. Elizabeth, in memory of the late Mr. Alfred Earlam Johnson, of Bickershaw Hall, who was prominently associated with the colliery industry. The Abram Coal Company and the parishioners are to defray the cost of the first window, and the widow is to pay for the second. An important conference between representatives of the Bolton Corporation and the local coal merchants was held at the Town Hall, on Monday this week. The meeting was of a private character, but it was -ascertained that after some discussion a resolution was passed by which the coal merchants pledged themselves not to add to the price of coal during the coming winter more than lOd. a ton, or a halfpenny per bag for their extra cost of distribution, independent, of course, of any increase that might be decided upon by the collieries. The traders present also pledged themselves not to supply any other merchant or small dealer who is found to be charging exorbitant prices. At a sitting of the Chancery Court for the County Palatine at Liverpool, on Tuesday, Mr. Rutherford mentioned the matter of Andrew against the Earl of Ellesmere, which is an action arising out of alleged subsidence in consequence of colliery workings. Counsel explained that the plaintiffs asked for liberty to add the Bridgewater Trustees as defendants. In 1903 the Trustees transferred the whole of the Bridgewater estates to the third Earl of Ellesmere, and the -action was brought against the Earl and Roscoe and Sons, who were the other defendants for damage caused to houses owned by the plaintiff at Little Hulton, near Bolton. As against Roscoe -and Sons, the proceedings had been stayed on terms. It was alleged that for several years prior to November 1912 the Earl worked the mines under the land in question, and had not left proper and sufficient support. The Vice-Chancellor : Were Roscoe’s lessees of the Earl of Ellesmere?—Mr. Rutherford replied in the affirmative. They took up the working after the Earl had finished. The damage was first noticed about the month of July 1901, and that damage was repaired by the Earl at his own expense. Further damage was noticed in June 1910, -and it was repaired by the Earl. It -again appeared in 1912, when the ground showTed signs of settlement, and cracks appeared.—The Vice-Chancellor : Do you say this mischief was caused during the time the Bridgewater Trustees were nominal owners of the property, and you want to add them for that purpose.—Mr. Rutherford said that was so.—Mr. Mather, for the respondents, said they were prepared to agree that if any liability was found against the Bridgewater Trustees they would hold themselves responsible. His clients were anxious to have a speedy trial. Important recommendations to prevent accidents arising from the work of haulage hands employed in coal mines were suggested by Mr. Henry Twist, miners’ agent, and confirmed by Mr. Nicholson, H.M. chief inspector of mines for Lancashire and North Wales, at an inquest held at Wigan recently, when the death of Thomas Woods Hodgson, a haulage hand, who had been fatally injured at the -Garswood Coal and Iron Company’s Ince Four-foot mine, was enquired into.—Edward Barker deposed that he was a haulage hand in the Ince Four-foot mine, No. 1 pit. Witness was working near the haulage engine at the top jof No. 15 jig brow, and deceased was employed at the bottom of the jig. Witness went down the brow to where deceased was, and on returning with him they heard a set of empty tubs going down the brow. On getting to a manhole they went in to let the set of tubs pass. When the boxes got near the shunt there was a stoppage, and deceased left the manhole to see what had happened. He got over the full tubs to get between the two roads, and found a tub at the front end of the empties had left the rails. He asked witness to knock the set “ off,” and after they had gone a few yards to knock “ hold ” to see if he could get the one on the rails again. Witness did as he was asked, and after the empties had gone a few yards he knocked “ hold.” Then he heard Hodgson call out that he was fast between the two sets. Witness did not give any signal from the bottom to the engine driver, and there was no one else in the brow besides deceased to stretch the rope, though it moved a few yards. It was necessary for deceased to get over the full tubs to see what had gone wrong with the empties, but he could have kept clear enough of the tubs. There was a risk of the empty tub, which was leaning inwards, being pulled against the full one.—Frank Jackson, a haulage hand at No. 5 shunt, said a signal received there would have to be repeated by a second person to the engineman.—James Bretherton, engine- man, said he received the usual signal for a set to go down No. 15 brow, which was 400 yds. long; then received another for the return. On the road he could feel by the drag on the engine that the tubs were fast, and he stopped the engine without waiting to receive a signal -to do so. Then he started the engine again to ascertain if the tubs had got loose again, and after pulling two or three yards he received a knock “ hold,” after which he heard of the accident. Reply- ing to the coroner, witness said he had had no complaints about lads larking with the “ knocker.” It was a usual thing to stop to straighten the rope when it got twisted. Witness admitted that it would have been much better had he not moved the engine until he had got a signal.—The coroner said it appeared to him that if signalling was to be any use or good in a mine it should be acted upon very closely and very cautiously, and not left to luck. There should be no luck or chance about- it. If they had rules for signals they should be strictly adhered to, or sooner or later an accident was bound to happen. Signals were for the purpose of avoiding accidents, and when, as in that case, the engine- man was practically a quarter of a mile away, and did not know the position of things at a distant point in the brow, he should strictly observe the regulations in the first place to protect himself and to avoid an accident.—Mr. Nicholson said he would like to emphasise the two points which had been raised. It was quite evident that an engine ought not to be moved, if there was a set in the brow, once it had been stopped, unless it was absolutely necessary.—The jury, in returning a verdict of “Accidental death,” added that no one was criminally to blame, but they hoped the suggestion about- signalling would be attended to, and that strict orders would be given to enginemen to conform to the regulations. Notts and Derbyshire. Mr. Walter Lindley, the secretary of the Whitwick Colliery Company, has been presented with a purse of gold, a gold watch, and a set of carvers, subscribed by the company, officials, and workmen, in recognition of 20 years’ service. The Midlands. Coal Prices in Birmingham — Absenteeism in South Staffordshire- Mr. E. E. Cooper, J.P., of Brierley Hill, Staffordshire, one of the grand old men of the Midland iron trade, attained the age of 85 on Saturday last. He was one of the founders of the well-known firm of Messrs. Roberts and Cooper. A serious stoppage at the Sandwell Park Colliery has been averted by the tact of the manager of the colliery (Mr. H. W. Hughes). The firm has been considerably handicapped since the war owing to the number of miners that have enlisted, and the inability of the management to replace them by com- petent men. Col. J. H. Knight, 5th Batt. North Staffordshire Regiment (T.F.), is officially reported as missing after an action in Flanders on the 13th inst., and grave concern is felt as to his fate. Col. Knight, who is a member of the well-known firm of Knight and Sons, solicitors, Newcastle-under-Lyme, has been for a number of years secretary of the North Stafford- shire Colliery Owners’ Association. He has been at the front with his battalion since March last. At a meeting of the General Purposes Committee of the Birmingham City Council on Monday, presided over by Aid. Sir George Kenrick, the Lord Mayor reported the result of his conference with the local Coal Merchants’ Association on the subject of fixing maximum prices. His lordship explained the difficulties of forming a scheme, and the committee decided to take no action in the matter. At the same time they expressed the hope that the prices of coal would not be unduly advanced, and that every consideration would be given to the requirements of the poor. At a meeting of the Cannock and District Committee of the Staffordshire Territorial Force Association last week, Mr. J. C. Forrest, of the Hollybank Colliery, said the local collieries were prepared to release more men if those remain- ing would attend to their work regularly. From one colliery alone on Monday 350 men were absent. As the employer of the largest number of men in the district, he was satisfied that it was their bounden duty to find the men, even if the collieries “ stood,” if that were the policy for the country. At the present time the coal owners were paying in rents and coal allowance to the dependants of the men who had enlisted a sum of £9,000 a year. This showed that the colliery owners were “ doing their bit ” to help. On Mondays and Tuesdays the absenteeism, at local collieries averaged 20 per cent. The coal owners had decided to try another method in the ho-pe of bringing -about an improvement, and that was to post up the names of defaulters at the collieries in order that the men who did work should know those who regularly “ played.” The Midland Railway Company, says the Railway Gazette, has recently closed what was certainly one of the most curious little railways -in the kingdom. The derelict Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Ticknail Tramway, which was originally laid by Benjamin Outram in the closing years of the eighteenth century (1799) for the conveyance of local products, is here referred to. It is situated partly in Leicestershire and partly -in Derbyshire, its length being 4 miles 35 chains. The line had long been out of use, except for one day every two years, when a load of coal was hauled along it by means of a horse to preserve the Midland Company’s Parliamentary rights, the last occasion on which this right was exercised being May 20, 1913. The rails have been removed and dispensed. Perhaps the proper term to apply to them would be plates. They had a ledge or flange upon -the inner side to keep the flat wheels or rollers of the trucks upon the track. They were 3 ft. long, by 3| in. high, by 2J in. wide. The sleepers were rough limestone blocks, 2 ft. long, 18 in. wide, and 12 in. thick. A wooden plug, into which was driven a broad-headed iron spike held the rail sections at the joints. The width between the metals was -the -standard British gauge, viz. 4 ft. 8f in. The track, now grass-grown and in parts obliterated, begins about a mile -and a-half out of Ashby, branching off from the modern Ashby-Derby Railway (opened in 1869) at Gresley, where the latter line comes out of a tunnel. It is carried across the main street at Ticknall by a stone bridge, and terminates in some practically abandoned lime- stone quarries on the north side of the village. Quarrying the limestone and burning it formerly gave employment to a large number of men, and it was then that the tramway was laid to facilitate the transit of the lime to the Ashby Canal, presumably in the neighbourhood of Moira, whence would probably be drawn coal for Ticknall and the places in between. The rolling stock of this quaint railway con- sisted for a long number of years of one wagon, which held about 15 cwt. The staff comprised one man, who kept the line in order as far -as possible, being himself chief ganger and sole platelayer. Steam traction w-a-s never used on this old rail track; but the latter was, and to some extent remains, an interesting relic of the past of railways, seeing that it was one of the forerunners of the great trunk railways of to-day. Somersetshire. Royalties and Profits. Mr. Wm. Whitefield, the Bristol miners’ agent, has made a statement on the question of colliery royalties, as applied to the Bristol coal field, being under State control. He said that in the Bristol coal field in 1889 there were 17 pits, and to-day there were only six working. At one in Bedminster, which had been closed for many years, the royalty charge was 8d. for each ton of coal coming to the pit bank, while the men received 7|d. per ton for getting the coal. At that colliery, which was closed down in 1893, it was quite safe to say that no fewer than a million tons of coal had been lost to the nation. After an explosion at this pit, and safety lamps were introduced there on the recommendation of a Government inspector, he adopted the usual course in the country, viz., in asking that piece workers should be paid something extra per ton for the inconvenience that closed locked lamps put them to as compared with open candle light. A Id. per ton would have adequately settled the matter, but the owners made it quite clear they could not pay that, seeing that the pit was losing money instead of making any, with the result that after a strike lasting- 15 months the pit was closed down. Recently a share- holder in the South Liberty Colliery mentioned that about £131,000 was invested, and that the profits averaged £760. Mr. Whitefield says the royalty owners the same year had received upwards of £3,000. It was cases such as these that made it quite clear to him that outside that colliery, if the remaining part of some sections of the Bristol coal field had to be saved, it was high time royalties belonged to the nation, and not to private individuals. Kent. East Kent Light Railway—Tilmanstone Finances. With the sinking at 1,958 ft., the second shaft in Snowdown Colliery to the deeper seams is lined to 1,920 ft. The sinking is now going through hard sandstone, which has materially reduced the rate of progress. The amount of coal raised at Snowdown and Tilmanstone collieries is now approaching four thousand tons weekly. The East Kent Light Railway Company, which is associated with the various Kentish collieries, has approached the Canterbury City Council for sanction to lower the Sturry- road 4 ft. 6 in., in connection with the carrying of the railway bridge over the road at that point. The Roads Committee’s recommendation that any lowering of the Sturry-road .should not be sanctioned, was adopted after some discussion, in the course of which it was urged that obstacles should not be placed in the way of the light railway, which would be of benefit to the city. The principal objection to the scheme was that the road at present -is rather -difficult to drain, and with the proposed lowering there would be a pond there in wet weather. The opinion was expressed that the railway could be carried across without any lowering of the road, but the cost would be more. Nearly £3,000 of the money subscribed to the special pumping fund for Tilmanstone Colliery has been transferred to the East Kent Colliery Company’s second mortgage debenture stock, as the result of the appeal sent out by Messrs. George Thomas, Dover, and Arthur Wells, Canterbury, who circularised the shareholders in the first instance for -the necessary funds to keep pumping going at the colliery during the reconstruction period. Matters are going on very satisfactorily with regard to Tilmanstone Colliery now, and the receiver will shortly be out of the property. Scotland. Coal Prices at Edinburgh and Dundee — Home Office Prosecution at Hamilton: Storage of Explosives Below Ground. During last week the steamer “ Blackwood ” arrived in Bo’ness, and loaded coal for London. This is the first vessel to take out a cargo of coal from Bo’ness since the closing of the docks by the Admiralty last November. A considerable number of changes are announced due to a reorganisation of the staff of the Hamilton Estates, belong- ing to his Grace the Duke of Hamilton. Mr. James Barrowman, mineral factor, and Messrs. McCreaths and Stevenson, the consulting engineers, have both relinquished their posts, -and the mineral -interests will, in future, be conducted in Hamilton, with Mr. James Hamilton, mining engineer, Glasgow (late of the firm of Messrs. McCreaths and Stevenson) as consulting engineer. It is proposed to erect at Newmains Cross, Lanarkshire, a memorial to commemorate the men belonging to Newmains who have fallen in the war. Mr. Robert Russell, managing director of the Coltness Iron Company Limited, who have large colliery and other interests in the district, is taking a prominent interest in the scheme. The Town Council of Hamilton have arranged a meeting with the retail coal dealers in the burgh with a view to securing some uniform rate for the sale of coal. The -idea seems to be to reduce, if possible, the burden of cost upon the poorer classes of the community. This action, it is believed, has been taken at the request of the Board of Trade. On the occasion of his leaving the service of the Auchinlea Coal Company, the workmen of Shawstonhead Colliery, Lanarkshire, have presented Mr. James Ramsay, under- manager, with a purse of sovereigns. In Hamilton Sheriff Count last week, Sheriff Shennan heard evidence in the charge against John Smith, colliery manager, Braehead Cottage, Boukle, Newmains, manager of Murdostoun Colliery, Cleland, Lanarkshire, for alleged contravention of the Explosives in Coal Mines Order. It was complained that respondent on May 27 failed to carry out to the best of his ability the provisions of the Order, in so far as he failed to see (1) that no explosive substance was stored underground, and that the workmen brought with them out of the mine and returned to the appointed place of storage any explosives remaining in their possession at the end of their shift; (2) failed to see that